Method and apparatus for monitoring the transportation of medical images on a communication network

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for monitoring the transportation of medical images on a communication network includes a medical image transport service (MITS) that may be used to notify clients of the status of scheduled requests. The MITS may be configured to provide numerous notifications, such as the scheduled time for delivery, changes in scheduled time for delivery, delays associated with delivery at the scheduled time, and likely resolutions to network or other delays attendant to the requested transaction. The notifications may be sent in-band on the network or out-of-band on a parallel network. Where the notification relates to a delayed transaction, the notification message may contain the reason for the delay, the source of the delay, its location, and if other images can still be retrieved. The notification may also include a likely resolution of the problem and an estimate of when the problem will be resolved.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a related to U.S. patent application entitled Methodand Apparatus For Facilitating The Transportation of Medical Images on aCommunication Network, filed concurrently herewith (Attorney Docket No.NN-16421), the content of which is hereby incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

This application relates to communication networks and, moreparticularly, to a method and apparatus for facilitating thetransportation of medical images on a communication network.

2. Description of the Related Art

Radiology has been developed to perform diagnostic imaging in many areasof medicine. For example, diagnostic radiology may be used to visualizeorgans in the abdomen, such as the digestive system, intestines,kidneys, liver, stomach, and urinary tract, organs in the chest such asthe respiratory system and lungs, the central nervous system, the heartand vascular system, soft tissue organs, and the musculoskeletal systemsuch as bones, muscles, joints, back, spine, and neck. Diagnosticradiology may be used to detect numerous types of diseases, such aspotential cancer abnormalities, bone densitometry, and many other typesof diseases. Additionally, many different types of procedures useradiology to detect the internal structure of the human body. Severalexamples include arthrography, bone densitometry, magnetic resonanceimaging, computed tomography, radiology, intravenous pyelogramy, andother types of non-invasive and invasive imaging.

As technology has advanced, medical imaging has moved from traditionalfilm-based imaging to electronic-based imaging, in which the imagesproduced by the modalities are electronically created and stored. Overtime, as the number of modalities has increased and the abilities of themodalities have increased, the amount of data associated with medicalimages that must be stored and transported over a communication networkin the hospital environment has increased dramatically.

A hospital or other medical facility's data communication network mayinclude various computers, servers, nodes, routers, switches, bridges,hubs, proxies, and other network devices coupled together and configuredto pass data to one another. These devices will be referred to herein as“network elements.” Data is communicated through the data communicationnetwork by passing protocol data units, such as data frames, packets,cells, or segments, between the network elements by utilizing one ormore communication links. A particular protocol data unit may be handledby multiple network elements and cross multiple communication links asit travels between its source and its destination over the network.

As the amount of medical image traffic on hospital networks hasincreased, the likelihood that a particular image will experience delayin transmission due to congestion on the network has also increased. Atthe same time, medical personnel are striving to perform their tasksmore efficiently to reduce costs associated with medical care. Forexample, a radiologist may allocate 30 seconds to review a medical imageand make a diagnosis from the image. When transportation of an image onthe network is interrupted, the radiologist may be left without anyunderstanding of why the image has not been delivered and/or when itwill be delivered. The uncertainty attendant with the network delay orfailure may prevent the medical personnel from pursuing other tasks and,hence, contributes to inefficiency.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a method and apparatusfor monitoring the transportation of medical images on a communicationnetwork. According to embodiments of the invention, transportation ofmedical images may be monitored and reported to medical personnel in theordinary course or when delivery of one or more of the medical images isdelayed on the network. A medical image transport service (MITS) thatmay be used to notify clients of the status of scheduled requests. TheMITS may be configured to provide numerous notifications, such as thescheduled time for delivery, changes in scheduled time for delivery,delays associated with delivery at the scheduled time, and likelyresolutions to network or other delays attendant to the requestedtransaction. The notifications may be sent in-band on the network orout-of-band on a parallel network. Where the notification relates to adelayed transaction, the notification message may contain the reason forthe delay, the source of the delay, its location, and if other imagescan still be retrieved. The notification may also include a likelyresolution of the problem and an estimate of when the problem will beresolved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Aspects of the present invention are pointed out with particularity inthe claims. The following drawings disclose one or more embodiments forpurposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope ofthe invention. In the following drawings, like references indicatesimilar elements. For purposes of clarity, not every element may belabeled in every figure. In the figures:

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an example of a medicalcommunication network including a medical image transport serviceaccording to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a network architecture includinga medical image transport service according to an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the network architecture of FIG.2 showing the medical image transport service in greater detailaccording to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a process of scheduling resourcesto accommodate medical image transport on the network architecture ofFIGS. 2 and 3 according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of a network device implementing adata management service portion of the medical image transport serviceof FIG. 3 according to an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of a network device implementing anetwork resources manager portion of the medical image transport serviceof FIG. 3 according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description sets forth numerous specific detailsto provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may be practicedwithout these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods,procedures, components, protocols, algorithms, and circuits have notbeen described in detail so as not to obscure the invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a medical communication networkincluding a medical image transport service according to an embodimentof the invention. In this example, the medical image transport serviceis configured to facilitate transfers of data between a data source suchas a modality and a data target, such as a Picture Archiving andCommunication System (PACS) system or a storage system. A PACS system isa conventional system on many medical networks that is specificallydesigned to store medical images and to serve the medical images on thecommunication network when required. As discussed in greater detailbelow, a medical image transport service, according to an embodiment ofthe invention, enables the transportation of medical images on thenetwork to be controlled, scheduled, prioritized, and monitored tothereby enhance performance of the medical network in connection withtransportation of medical images.

As shown in FIG. 1, a network 10 configured to transport medical imagesmay include one or more domains such as a hospital network domain 12, apublic network domain 14, a PACS network domain 16, and a storage areanetwork (SAN) domain 18. Other domains may be included as well, and theinvention is not limited to a network including all or only theseseveral illustrated domains. When medical images are to be transportedacross the network 10, enforcement of policy on the several domains andcoordination between the domains for transmission of the medical imagesfrom a data source to a data target may present significant challenges.One simple way to transmit medical images in a network such as thenetwork illustrated in FIG. 1 is to use Internet Protocol or anotherrouting protocol to find an available path through the network.Transmission of images in this manner relies on the end devices to setthe proper quality of service level for the transmissions, and does notprovide for coordinated control over the transmission of medical imagesbetween the various network elements.

According to an embodiment of the invention, a medical image transportservice is deployed on the network to coordinate transportation ofmedical images on the communication network, such as by schedulingtransmissions, obtaining network resources to accommodate the scheduledtransportations, and monitoring the transmission and networkparticipants, to coordinate delivery of the medical images.Additionally, when necessary, the medical image transport service maytake corrective action on the network to transport the requested imageon a different route through the network or to secure the requestedimage from another data source. The medical image transport service mayalso perform other functions on the network, as discussed in greaterdetail below.

In the network illustrated in FIG. 1, one or more modalities 20 areconfigured to generate images for transportation on the network.Examples of several common modalities include x-ray machines, CAT scanmachines, ultrasounds, and numerous other types of modalities asdiscussed in greater detail above.

Images generated by the modalities may be stored in a number of placeson the network. For example, the images may be stored in a local storage22 associated with the modality or configured on the hospital network towhich the modalities are connected. Alternatively, the medical imagesmay be transported across the network to a PACS network and stored in aPACS system 24 or local storage on the PACS network 26. Similarly, themedical images may be transported across the network to the storage areanetwork 18 and stored in storage 28 on the storage area network. Otherstorage solutions may be provided as well and the invention is notlimited to a network including all or only these several identifiedstorage possibilities.

Images generated by the modalities may also be transported directly toone or more viewing terminals 30 to be reviewed by medical personnel.For example, a medical image generated by an x-ray modality may betransmitted to a surgeon preparing for surgery in another room so thatthe surgeon is able to understand the nature of the trauma to thepatient and properly prepare for the surgery. Similarly, medical imagesstored on one or more of the storage solutions may need to be retrievedat a later time and displayed for review at a viewing terminal. Othertypes of transactions may be commonly performed as well, such asretrieval of prior images, clinician retrieval of images or imageenhancements, transfers between medical personnel to obtain secondopinions on images, and numerous other transactions. The invention isnot limited to a particular transaction type or to the particulartransactions mentioned herein.

Images generated by the modalities may be processed prior to beingstored or prior to being viewed by medical personnel. For example, itmay be desirable to perform edge resolution, contrast enhancement, orother operations on a medical image. Similarly, it may be desirable tocombine multiple images into one file to enable greater threedimensional imaging to be provided from the several images. Optionally,these processes may be performed by a network resource deployed on thenetwork, such as processing resource 31. Inclusion of a processingresource enables the medical image transport service to mediate advancedtransactions involving image manipulation without further burdening thePACs server or other deployed equipment. The processing resource may beassociated with a network element such as a router or switch, or may bea self contained network resource.

In all of these situations and numerous others, the medical images arerequired to be transported from one place on the network to anotherplace on the network 10. As used herein, the term “data source” will beused to describe the place where the data originated and the term “datatarget” will be used to describe the intended destination of the data.For example, where a modality is generating an image that is to betransferred to storage, the modality would be the data source and thelocal storage 22, the PACS system 24, the PACS local storage 26 or theSAN storage 28 would be the data target. Similarly, where a medicalimage is to be displayed, one of the storage devices or the modality maybe considered the data source, and the viewing terminal may beconsidered the data target. Where a more complex transaction is to takeplace, such as the delivery of data from a modality 20 to the processingresource 31, and then from the processing resource to the PACS server24, each portion of the transaction may be considered to have a datasource and a data target.

As shown in FIG. 1, the various elements of the network 10 areinterconnected by one or more network elements 32 configured totransport data on the network. The network elements may be gatewaysinterfacing between two or more network domains or may be networkelements configured to operate wholly within one domain. The inventionis not limited by the number or configuration of the network elements.

According to one embodiment of the invention, a medical image transportservice 34 is deployed on the network and configured to interface withthe network elements to enable the transportation of medical images onthe network to be facilitated. As described in greater detail below,facilitating the transportation of medical images may encompass manydifferent aspects associated with transporting the images, includingscheduling transmission of the images, obtaining bandwidth for theirtransmission, monitoring the transmission, notifying and takingcorrective action when transmission is interrupted, and performing manymore functions associated with transporting images on the network. Theseand other aspects of the medical image transport service will bedescribed in greater detail below in connection with FIGS. 2-6.

The medical image transport service may be deployed on a gateway networkelement between two or more of the network domains, may be deployed asan independent service on the network and connected to the network, ormay be deployed on one or more network elements within one or more ofthe domains. The medical image transport service may also be associatedwith the viewing terminal, PACS system, modality, storage resource, orother participant on the network. The invention is not limited to whereon the network the medical image transport service is deployed.According to one embodiment of the invention, the medical imagetransport service may be implemented as a blade server, associated witha content switch on the network. The invention is not limited in thismanner, however, as described in greater detail below.

FIG. 2 illustrates a functional block diagram of a network architectureincluding a medical image transport service 34 according to anembodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the medical imagetransport service is configured to interface with a client application36 to enable the client application to facilitate the transmission ofmedical images from one or more data sources 38 to one or more datatargets 40. Although an implementation of the invention will bedescribed in part herein in connection with facilitating a singletransmission on the network from a data source to a data target, themedical image transport service may be configured to perform othertransactions as well. For example, the medical image transport servicemay be configured to coordinate multiple transfers between differentsources and targets to achieve more complicated transactions. Oneexample of a more complicated transaction may be, for example, to obtainmedical images, pass the medical images to network attachedcomputational resources, retrieve the results of the computation, andreturn the results to storage and/or to a viewing terminal. Thus, theinvention is not limited to performing one dimensional transactions froma data source to a data target, but may be used to facilitatemulti-dimensional transactions involving pluralities of transfers fromdata sources to data targets. As indicated above, the data sources maybe modalities, storage resources, or processing resources, and the datatargets may similarly be storage resources, processing resources, andviewing terminals. Thus, complex transactions may be accommodated andmanaged in the network through the medical image transport service. Tofacilitate an understanding of how the invention may be used in aparticular context, a transaction involving the transmission of amedical image from a data source to a data target will first bedescribed, and then larger transactions will be described in subsequentembodiments.

As shown in FIG. 2, when a transaction is to occur on the network totransport a medical file from a data source to a data target, the clientapplication responsible for the transaction will access the medicalimage transport service (arrow 1). Optionally, the client applicationmay also access the data source 38 and/or data target 40 although,depending on the implementation, the medical image transport service maybe configured to interface with and coordinate the transfer betweenthese elements as well.

The client application 36 may be associated with an user interface 42 toenable users to access the client application to affect transactions onthe network. Additionally, or alternatively, the client application mayinterface with or be associated with other programs running on thenetwork to enable those programs to affect transfers on the network. Theclient application may be associated with a modality, with a viewingterminal, with one or more storage elements, or with another programrunning on the network. For example, a radiologist at a viewing terminalmay be provided with an user interface to enable the radiologist tocontrol the client application to cause medical images to be downloadedto a viewing terminal in his vicinity. Alternatively, the radiologistmay control the client application to cause medical images to be movedfrom an archive storage to a local storage to make the images moreaccessible, e.g. during an operation. Thus, the client application maybe associated with one of the users or network elements on the network,or may simply be associated with a management terminal and used to movedata through the network for the use by other processing devices oraccess devices. Optionally, the medical image transfer service may beassociated with the PACS server, although the invention is not limitedto this embodiment.

The client may not know where the data source actually resides on thenetwork, or there may be replicas of the data that reside in a number ofplaces on the network. For example, the requesting client may not knowhow the data is stored on the network, but know the name of the datasetor the content of the dataset that it would like to request. In thisinstance, the medical image transport service may interact with areplica location service (not shown) to find the location(s) on thenetwork of the actual files that make up the named data set. Then, themedical image transport service may choose a convenient source locationbased on a number of factors, such as the physical proximity of the datasource to the data target, the availability of the data source tofulfill the request, the cost associated with obtaining the data fromthe data source, the availability of the network resources to transportthe requested data from the selected data source to the intended datatarget, and many other factors. Optionally, after the data set has beenmoved, the replica location service may be notified that another copy ofthe data exists, and its location. One replica location service iscurrently being developed in connection with the GRID initiative(discussed below), although other replica location services may be usedas well.

The medical images may be formatted using a conventional medical formatsuch as DICOM as described in greater detail above. The invention is notlimited to medical images in the DICOM format, however, as other formatsmay be used as well.

The data source and data target may be associated with ftp serverdaemons or other conventional data transfer engines configured to sendand receive data on demand. The transfers may take place using anunderlying file transfer mechanism over the reserved and allocatednetwork resources. Several available transfer mechanisms include:

-   -   DICOM    -   File Transfer Protocol (FTP);    -   GRIDftp;    -   Fast Active Queue Management Scaleable TCP (FAST);    -   TSUNAMI (a protocol that uses TCP for transferring control        information and UDP for data transfer);    -   Simple Available Bandwidth Utilization Library (SABUL)—a        UDP-based data transfer protocol;    -   Blast UDP;    -   Striped SABUL (P-SABUL); and    -   Psockets.        Other transfer mechanisms may be used as well and the invention        is not limited to an implementation that uses one of these        several identified protocols.

Once the client application has passed the requested transaction to themedical image transport service, the medical image transport servicewill contact the network resources (arrow 2) to determine theavailability of the network and to reserve bandwidth and other resourcesfor the requested transaction (arrow 3). Once the necessary resourceshave been reserved, the medical image transport service may report backto the client application (arrow 4) and allow the client application tocoordinate delivery of the medical image between the data source and thedata target (arrows 5 and 6). Alternatively, the medical image transportservice may coordinate with the data source and data target (arrows 7and 8) to effect transfer of the medical image. Optionally, advancedscheduling may occur to allow transactions to occur on demand, in thefuture, or in an unconstrained nature. The medical image transportservice may coordinate with the network resources, data source, and datatarget in any desired order and the invention is not limited tointerfacing with these components in any particular order.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the medical imagetransport service may be configured to understand the work flowassociated with the transmission of medical images to automaticallyadjust network parameters such as bandwidth and quality of service tomeet the requirements of the applications. By understanding the workflow on the network, the network can understand not only what ishappening, but what is going to happen next, so that even “on-demand”image transport may be “scheduled,” by anticipating the on-demand eventor the likelihood of the on-demand event, and obtaining bandwidth andother network resources to accommodate it.

The medical image transport service may be configured to receiverequests for data transfers with requested scheduling constraints andpolicy tags, prioritize transfers between competing requests, andfulfill requests by scheduling and allocating resources on the network.The policy tags may be used to differentiate between transfers, asdiscussed in greater detail below, to enable the transfers to bedifferentiated and prioritized on the network. The medical imagetransport service may also monitor the data transfer and optionallymanage the data transfer.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the medical imagetransport service may allow data transfers to occur:

-   -   on demand (right now);    -   rigidly in the future (e.g., “tomorrow precisely at 3:30 am”);    -   loosely in the future (e.g., “Tuesday, after 4 pm but before 6        pm”); and    -   constrained by events (e.g., “after event A starts or event B        terminates”);        although many other types of reservations may be made as well,        and the invention is not limited to a system that is able to        implement these or only these particular types of network        resource reservations. A reservation request that is not rigidly        fixed with precise required parameters will be referred to        herein as under-constrained. In this context, an        under-constrained resource reservation request enables the        request to be fulfilled in two or more ways rather than only in        one precise manner. An example of an under-constrained request        may be to transfer all medical images for a particular patient        to a particular terminal in an operating theatre by a scheduled        time.

The medical image transport service also includes hardware and softwareconfigured to enable it to query the network for its topology andcharacteristics. It includes one or more routing modules to planavailable and appropriate paths between requested endpoints in (or near)requested time windows; and the ability to allocate specificsegment-by-segment paths between endpoints, and to relinquish them whenthe data transfer is done or when the user decides to cancel areservation or request.

The medical image transport service can be instantiated in many forms onthe network, such as a stand-alone Web Service, or as a Web Serviceconfigured to interact with other Web Services. For example, the medicalimage transport service may interact with other Web Services, such asthose which manage disk storage and those which manage computationalresource availability, in order to coordinate all of these disparateresources to fulfill a submitted request. In one embodiment, the medicalimage transport service is instantiated using the Globus Toolkit, suchthat components are configured with Open Grid Services Interface (OGSI)compliant application interfaces within the Open Grid ServicesArchitecture (OGSA). The invention is not limited to a GRID embodiment,however, as other embodiments may be utilized as well. For example, themedical image transport service may be instantiated as a web serviceconfigured to interact with network resources and data resources on thenetwork without being configured to implement GRID functionality.

FIG. 3 illustrates an architecture that may be used to implement anembodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 3, in this embodiment, aclient application 36 interacts with a medical image transport service34 to effect a data transfer between a data source 38 and a data target40 over a network. Interactions between the client 36 and the medicalimage transport service 34 may take place using a communication protocolsuch as Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), Extensible Markup Language(XML) messaging, Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Data Web TransferProtocol (DWTP) or another conventional protocol. The invention is notlimited to the particular protocol used to communicate between theclient application 36 and the medical image transport service 34.

In the architecture of FIG. 3, the medical image transport service 34includes two major portions: a data management service 44 and a networkresource manager 46. The data management service 44 is generallyresponsible for interfacing the client 36, data source 38, data target40, and other application level and resource level network constructs.The network resource manager 46 is generally responsible for interfacingthe network resources 48 forming the network 10, such as routers,switches, bridges, hubs, management stations, etc. that are used totransport and manage the transportation of data on the network 10. Thedata management service 44 and the network resource manager 46 may beimplemented on a particular network element on the network or may beimplemented on different network elements on the network 10.

The network resource manager may be required to interface with manydifferent types of network resources and may need to communicate withthe networks and network devices using a number of different interfaceand management protocols. In FIG. 3, the network resource manager isillustrated as being configured to communicate with network devicesusing the following protocols:

-   -   User to Network Interface (UNI), a protocol developed to        interface Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) such as ATM switches        and optical cross connects with public network equipment;    -   General Switch Management Protocol (GSMP), a general Internet        Engineering Task Force (IETF) protocol configured to control        network switches;    -   Transaction Language 1 (TL1), a telecommunications management        protocol used extensively to manage SONET and optical network        devices;    -   Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), an IETF network        monitoring and control protocol used extensively to monitor and        adjust Management Information Base (MIB) values on network        devices such as routers and switches;    -   Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP) or RSVP-Traffic Engineering        (RSVP-TE), a signaling protocol used in Multi-Protocol Label        Switching (MPLS) networks, that allows routers on the MPLS        network to request specific quality of service from the network        for particular flows, as provisioned by a network operator; and    -   Bandwidth Broker, an Internet2 bandwidth signaling protocol.        Other conventional or proprietary protocols may be used as well,        and the invention is not limited to these particular identified        protocols. For example, in one embodiment of the invention,        bandwidth and other resources on the network may be obtained by        using one or more of these protocols to perform rate limiting,        set appropriate quality of service values end-to-end, and        perform translation from domain to domain across the network        (both layer 1 and layer 2) to obtain sufficient resources to        accommodate the transmission. Additionally, in an optical        network such as a SONET network, a protocol such as the        Resilient Packet Ring protocol (IEEE 802.17) may be used alone,        or in combination with Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS), to        obtain network resources for the transmissions. The invention is        not limited to this particular example, however, as other        protocols and other mechanisms may be used to interface with the        network resources.

The network resource manager 46 includes a topology discovery module 50configured to perform topology discovery on the network to discover howthe underlay network elements are configured and what resources aredeployed throughout the network. The topology discovery module may alsodiscover available bandwidths on the network and detect areas ofcongestion on the network.

The network resource manager 46 also includes a route creation module 52configured to create routes through the underlay network, and a pathallocation module 54 to enable the routes to be populated with paths forparticular data transfers on the network. These modules coordinate withthe topology discovery module 50 to avoid areas of congestion on thenetwork and a scheduling module 56 to enable the creation of routes andpaths to be performed in connection with the required schedulemaintained by the scheduling module, as directed by the data managementservice. The path allocation module 54, in addition to allocating paths,also effects reservations on the allocated paths so that the paths canbe used to effect the transfer of medical images between the data sourceand data target.

The network resource manager 46 may also include additional modules suchas a performance monitor 58 and a congestion resolution module 60. Theperformance monitor may be provided to monitor data transfers on thenetwork to determine if one or more of the data transfers was unable tobe completed for a particular reason such as a network failure orcongestion. Additionally, the performance monitor may be used to collectstatistics on the network relating to traffic patters. The statisticsmay be collected based on the time of day, day of the week, seasonalvariations, the lunar calendar, or any number of other bases. Thestatistics collected by the performance monitor may be passed to thedata management service for use in connection with setting policy on thenetwork to enable the policy to take into account expected trafficpatterns on the network.

The congestion resolution module 60 coordinates with the topologydiscovery module 50 and performance monitor 58 to respond to indicationsof congestion on the network, and coordinates with the route creationand path allocation modules 52, 54 to obtain new resources for thetransmission of medical images around areas of congestion on thenetwork. The congestion resolution module, in coordination with theother modules of the network resource manager 46, thus is able todiagnose problems on the network, determine which flows are affected bythe network problems, obtain new resources for those flows, and causethe flows to use the new resources.

The data management service 44 interfaces with the client application 36to receive requests and optionally coordinates with the data source 38and data target 40 to affect the transfer of the requested medicalimage(s) over resource provided by the network resource manager 46. Thedata management services includes a scheduler/optimizer 62 configured toschedule the transmission of medical images between the data source anddata target and maintain work-flow information associated with medicalimage transactions on the network. Statistics may be used, in thiscontext, to anticipate the likelihood of particular types oftransactions and pre-allocate or pre-schedule resources for anticipatedtransactions. Additionally, transaction patterns (i.e. sequences ofparticular transactions that occur frequently) may be stored and used toanticipate upcoming transactions which may be scheduled or otherwiseanticipated on the network. When the medical images are to be deliveredin real time, scheduling the transmission of medical images may causethe medical images to be delivered as soon as possible. Where a portionof the medical images to be delivered in real time have a high priority,and others are to be delivered in real time with relative lowerpriority, the scheduler may organize transmissions to take into accountthe relative priority of the requests. Additionally, where the medicalimage transport service is configured to schedule under-constrainedrequests that may occur at a future point in time, thescheduler/optimizer module 62 may be configured to optimize schedulingof the several requests to accommodate the requests in according to thespecified constraints.

The data management service 44 may also include a policy module 64 thatenables the data management service to discern higher priority requestsfrom lower priority requests, and to cause higher priority requests tobe provided a higher quality of service and enhanced status in thescheduler/optimizer module. Specifically, the policy module 64 mayenable the data management service to look at the request to determinewhat application generated the request, who is running the application,where the application is being run, why the application is being run orwhy the image is being requested, the time of day, and other priorityindications associated with the request. For example, the datamanagement service may be configured to differentiate between requestsgenerated by a terminal in an operating room and an identical terminalin a radiologist's office. Likewise, the data management service may beconfigured to differentiate between requests generated by a surgeon anda radiologist, if the two medical personnel were to log into the sameterminal at different times. Numerous other prioritization factors maybe implemented in the policy module as well and the invention is notlimited to these several described factors. Policy values may be set inthe policy module for example by the network administrator, to enablethe data management service to prioritize or otherwise give preferentialtreatment to requests on the network.

The data management service may include a data source control module 66and a data target control module 68 to enable the data managementservice to coordinate transfer between the data source and data target.For relatively simple transactions, the data source control module maysimply instruct the data source to transfer the data over a particularpath using particular parameters, to a particular destination. In morecomplicated transactions, more extensive control may be warranted suchas by instructing the data source to prefetch the data to keep it in alocal cache or to otherwise make the data ready for transfer over thenetwork. Where the transaction is a multipart transaction, for examplewhere data is to be transferred to an intermediate resource formanipulation or computation prior to being transferred to the ultimatetarget, the data source and data target control modules, in connectionwith the scheduler module, allow the data management service to maintaininformation about the transaction to ensure the transaction is able tobe accomplished on the network. Optionally, the scheduler/optimizer 62may be used to coordinate more complicated transactions on the network,for example by maintaining a record of the transaction and associatedwork-flow on the network.

Optionally, the data source control module 66 and the data targetcontrol module 68 may be configured to implement rate limiting to causethe data source and/or data target to stop sending or stop requestingdata where the network or a particular part of the network isexperiencing congestion and the data source and/or data target areparticipating in the transmission of relatively lower priority medicalimages. The invention is not limited in this manner, however.

The data management service may also include a client notificationmodule 70 to enable the client to be notified of the status of therequest. Radiologists and other medical personnel may prefer to work inan efficient manner to enable them to review a particular number ofimages in a given period of time. Occasionally, network problems orproblems with the data source or data target may cause a transaction tobe delayed. By providing a performance monitor 58 on the networkresource manager 46 and a client notification module 70 on the datamanagement service 44, the medical image transport service 34 is able toidentify the source of the problem and notify the client application ofthe problem. Optionally, where the problem is isolated on the network,the congestion resolution module 60 may be able to find a new routearound the problem on the network. Alternatively, where the problem isisolated on the data source, the data source control module 66 may beable to find an alternative source for the data and obtain the data fromthe new source. In either event, the client notification module mayenable the client to be informed of the nature of the problem, the stepsthe medical image transport service is taking to correct the problem,and optionally an estimate of when the problem is likely to be resolved.Where the problem exists on the sole source of the data, the datatarget, or the client, the client may be notified of that as well.

There may be instances where the network that will carry the medicalimage is also the network that will carry the notification to the clientthat the network is experiencing problems. According to an embodiment ofthe invention, the client notification module may be connected to anexternal communication network, such as a telephone network, an e-mailnetwork, or other electronic messaging network, to enable thenotification to occur outside of the network experiencing failure.Optionally, both types of notification may be available to the medicalimage transport service to enable notification to occur preferentiallythrough the network 10, and alternatively through other availablecommunication channels. This redundant network is illustrated in FIG. 1by the dashed lines 33 interconnecting several of the medical imagetransport service 34 and the viewing terminal 30.

Medical images are generally required to be transmitted in a securemanner and delivered only to authenticated and authorized individuals ormachines. To accommodate these requirements, according to an embodimentof the invention, the medical image transport service may include asecurity/AAA module 72 to enable the medical image transport service toparticipate in secure transactions on the network. This module may belocated in the data management services portion of the medical imagetransport service as illustrated, may be located in the network resourcemanager portion, or may be available to both portions. The invention isnot limited to where, logically, the security/AAA module is included inthe medical image transport service.

The AAA service module 72 may be provided to enable the clientapplications to be authenticated on the network, enable the user of theclient application to be authenticated on the network, enable thenetwork components such as the data management service and the networkresource manager to ascertain whether the user of the application isauthorized to perform transactions on the network, and to allowaccounting entries to be established and associated with the proposedtransaction. Accounting entries may enable particular data transfers tobe associated with particular users and with particular access terminalsto enable transactions to be reconstructed at a later time if required.Additionally, a security service may be provide to enable encryption andother security services to be provided in connection with the request ordata transfer to enable the transaction to occur in a secure fashion andto enable the data to be protected during the transfer. For example, thesecurity module may support the creation of Virtual Private Network(VPN) tunnels between the various components involved in securing thetransfer of data across the network. Numerous other security servicesmay be performed as well and the invention is not limited to anarchitecture having only these several discussed security services.

Once a transfer has been scheduled and the bandwidth reserved on thenetwork, the data occurs, assisted if necessary by the medical imagetransport service. For example, the medical image transport service mayassist in the transfer of the data by checking to see if the source fileexists, reporting on parameters associated with the source file such asits size and permissions, optionally checking with the data target tosee if there is enough disk space to hold the transfer, causing thetransfer to happen, reporting back on the status of the transfer whenqueried or at predetermined intervals, and informing the client that atransfer has been completed or if there is a problem with the transfer.Other functions may be performed as well and this list of functions isintended merely as an example of some of the functions that may beperformed by the medical image transport service. According to oneembodiment of the invention, to make the components compatible with GRIDcomputing technology, all application layer interfaces are configured tobe OGSI compatible. This enables the network resource manager and datamanagement service to be treated as resources in a GRID computingenvironment, so that they may be accessed by the applications eitherthrough GRID resource manager or directly in much the same way as anapplication would access other GRID resources. The invention is notlimited to an embodiment that is GRID compatible, however.

An administrative client 74 may be provided to enable an administrativeinterface to the medical image transport service to be used to setvalues, issue commands, control, and query the underlying services. Theadministrative client 74 may be used to perform various services on themedical image transport service, such as to query the medical imagetransport service, debug problems, set policy values in the policymodule 64 and elsewhere in the medical image transport service, adjustthe configuration of the medical image transport service, and performother management operations while the medical image transport service isrunning. For example, the administrative client may be able to obtaininformation from the medical image transport service such as thejobs/routes scheduled for a particular client, jobs currently running,current topology model, current parameter list, and many other types ofinformation. The invention is not limited to a particular implementationof the administration client 74.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart of an example of a how requests may beprocessed by the medical image transport service of FIGS. 1-3. As shownin FIG. 4, a client application generates a request for a medical imagedata transfer (100). This request may specify various parameters asdiscussed above, such as the time for delivery, where the data should bedelivered, the specific medical image, the set of medical images orgroup of medical images, policy tags such as the perceived relativeimportance, credentials associated with the person making the requestand the destination of the transfer, and numerous other parameters. Therequest is passed from the client application to the data managementservice (102) where authentication, authorization, accounting, and otherpreliminary functions are performed. The request is then passed to thenetwork resource manager (104) to cause the network resource manager toschedule the transfer. The network resource manager obtains a route/paththrough the network for the transfer, based on the current networkconditions, historical network conditions, and estimated future networkconditions, and allocates the route/path to the data transfer. Thenetwork resource manager also secures the resources on the network byinteracting with the network elements to reserve bandwidth for thetransfer (106).

Once bandwidth has been reserved, the NRM responds to the DMS with anindication that resources have been obtained and provides particularinformation associated with the reservation (108). For example, wherethe reservation has been made on a particular path through the network,the data source will need to be provided with information to enable itto use that path. Standard routing information may be provided inconnection with this process.

Where the medical image transport service is to handle the transfer onbehalf of the client application, the DMS will coordinate with the datasource and data target to facilitate the transfer (110). Alternatively,the client application may perform this process (110′). At the scheduletime, the transfer commences (112). Optionally, according to oneembodiment of the invention, the medical image transport service maymonitor the progress of the transfer (114). In the event of a higherpriority transfer (116), the medical image transport service willreschedule the transfer to accommodate the higher priority traffic(118). In the event of congestion or a network failure (120), themedical image transport service will attempt to route around thecongestion, obtain the data from another source, or take othercorrective action to enable the medical images to be supplied to theclient application (122). The client application may be informed of theprogress at various stages throughout the process or only when there isa problem or failure on the network that affects the medical imagetransfer.

As discussed briefly above, transactions to be handled by the medicalimage transport service may be relatively small, such as the transfer ofa single medical image from a PACS server to a viewing terminal.However, the medical image transport service is not limited toperforming single image transfers. Rather, according to an embodiment ofthe invention, the medical image transport service may be used toschedule the delivery of multiple images and to mediate delivery ofthose images along with other images in an equitable manner taking intoaccount the relative priority of the various contending medical imagetransactions attempting to occur simultaneously. For example, themedical image transport service may deliver images from a PACS server toa viewing terminal serially to be viewed by a technician at the viewingterminal. The images to be delivered may be selected by the technicianin groups, by patient, or in any other manner. Alteration of therelative priority of the images may be set through the use of prioritytags associated with the requests and through adjusting policyparameters in the policy module 64 through the administrative client 74.

Additionally, as modalities have increased in complexity and theirabilities have increased, it has become possible to perform varioustypes of signal processing on the medical images. One emerging type ofsignal processing is an attempt to combine images from multipledifferent modalities to enable more detailed viewing of threedimensional structures in the body to be visualized. This processing maytake a considerable amount of time. By enabling the transaction tospecify the particular type of processing, the medical image transportservice may coordinate delivery of the medical image files to aprocessing resource on the network, delivery of appropriate code to theprocessing resource (where applicable) and delivery of the processedimage from the processing resource to the data target. Accordingly,providing advanced scheduling of the medical image transport service ona medical network enables advanced transactions to be performed inconnection with medical images without extensively modifying themodalities or PACS systems. Additionally, enabling these functions to beperformed by a network service makes the functions available for allmodalities on the network without requiring the modalities to beupgraded to perform the new processing functions.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate embodiments of network elements configured toimplement the data management service and the network resources manageraccording to an embodiment of the invention. These network services maybe embodied in separate network elements, as illustrated, or may behoused in the same network element and share resources such asprocessor, memory, and other computing resources.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, the data management service 44is configured to be implemented on a network element 32 including aprocessor 80 having control logic 82 configured to implement thefunctions ascribed to the data management service 44 discussed herein inconnection with FIGS. 1-4. The network element has a native orinterfaced memory containing data and instructions to enable theprocessor to implement the functions ascribed to it herein. For example,the memory may contain software modules configured to perform thefunctions described above with respect to the scheduler/optimizer module62, the policy module 64, the data source control module 66, the datatarget control module 68, the client notification module 70, and thesecurity and AAA module 72. I/O ports 84 are also provided to enable thenetwork element to receive requests, issue instructions regardingfulfilled requests, and otherwise communicate with other constructs inthe network. Where special interface instructions are required to besupplied to the I/O ports or to the processor 80, modules containingthese data and instructions may be included as well. In the illustratedembodiment, the network element 32 includes a data and client interfacesmodule 86 and a network resource manager interface module 88.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6, the network resources manager46 is configured to be implemented on a network element 32 including aprocessor 90 having control logic 92 configured to implement thefunctions ascribed to the network resources manager discussed herein inconnection with FIGS. 1-4. The network element, in this embodiment, hasa native or interfaced memory containing data and instructions to enablethe processor to implement the functions ascribed to it herein. Forexample, the memory may contain software modules configured to performthe functions described above with respect to the topology discoverymodule 50, the route creation module 52, the path allocation module 54,the scheduling and statistics module 56, the performance monitor 58, andthe congestion resolution module 60. I/O ports 94 are also provided toenable the network element to receive requests, issue instructionsregarding fulfilled requests, interface with network elements to fulfillrequests, and otherwise communicate with other constructs in thenetwork. A protocol stack 96 may be provided to enable the networkresources manager to undertake protocol exchanges with other networkelements on the network to enable it to perform network discovery andmanagement, reserve resources on the network, and otherwise perform thefunctions ascribed to the network resource manager 46 on the network.

The control logic 82, 92, may be implemented as a set of programinstructions that are stored in a computer readable memory within thenetwork element and executed on a microprocessor, such as processor 80,90. However, it will be apparent to a skilled artisan that all logicdescribed herein can be embodied using discrete components, integratedcircuitry such as an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC),programmable logic used in conjunction with a programmable logic devicesuch as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or microprocessor, or anyother device including any combination thereof. Programmable logic canbe fixed temporarily or permanently in a tangible medium such as aread-only memory chip, a computer memory, a disk, or other storagemedium. Programmable logic can also be fixed in a computer data signalembodied in a carrier wave, allowing the programmable logic to betransmitted over an interface such as a computer bus or communicationnetwork. All such embodiments are intended to fall within the scope ofthe present invention.

It should be understood that various changes and modifications of theembodiments shown in the drawings and described herein may be madewithin the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, it isintended that all matter contained in the above description and shown inthe accompanying drawings be interpreted in an illustrative and not in alimiting sense. The invention is limited only as defined in thefollowing claims and the equivalents thereto.

1. A method of monitoring the transmission of medical images on anetwork, the method comprising the steps of: monitoring a transactionrequest, said transaction relating to the delivery of medical images ona network; and notifying an entity associated with the transactionrequest as to the status of the transaction request.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the entity associated with the transaction request is aclient application.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step ofnotifying comprises notifying the entity when the transaction request isdelayed on the network.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step ofnotifying comprises notifying the entity of a scheduled time fordelivery of the medical image.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein thestep of notifying comprises notifying the entity of a change inscheduled time for delivery of the medical image.
 6. The method of claim1, wherein the step of notifying comprises notifying the entity of adelay in scheduled delivery of the medical image.
 7. The method of claim6, wherein the step of notifying comprises notifying the entity of thereason for the delay, the source of the delay, the location of thedelay, and if other images can still be retrieved.
 8. The method ofclaim 6, wherein the step of notifying comprises notifying the entity ofa likely resolutions to the delay.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein thenetwork is a first network, and wherein the step of notifying comprisessending a notification on a second network.
 10. The method of claim 9,wherein the second network is separate from the first network, andwherein the notification is a data message generated on the secondnetwork.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the data message is atleast one of an e-mail, a pager message, and a voice message.
 12. Amedical image transport service configured to monitor the transmissionof medical images on a network, comprising: a data management service,said data management service being configured to monitor thetransmission of medical images on the network; and a client interfaceconfigured to provide notifications to a client related to the status ofthe transmissions of medical images on the network.
 13. The medicalimage transport service of claim 12, further comprising a networkresource manager configured to interface network devices in the networkto resolve delays in the network attendant to transmission of medicalimages on the network.